Helmut Kohl Quotes

For my generation, the monetary union has always been about forging peace.

We will do whatever we could do to keep Greece inside the euro and inside Europe.

As the political leaders of Europe meet to save the euro and European Union, so should religious leaders.

Greece wishes to be part of the eurozone, but it must, of course, go through with the necessary reforms to make this happen.

The goal of the government is to guarantee the place of Greece in the eurozone against those who want to undermine it.

I think the facts reveal that the European partners have taken extraordinary measures to help Greece address its problems.

Today, hundreds of millions dwell in freedom, from the Baltic to the Adriatic, from the Western Approaches to the Aegean. And while we must never take this for granted, the first purpose of the European Union - to secure peace - has been achieved and we should pay tribute to all those in the EU, alongside Nato, who made that happen.

We're going to have to forgive a great deal of the Soviet era debt. There's no question about that. Let's face up to that. We're going to have to put in money if Russia is really going to consolidate a democracy.

Our position in Europe is not negotiable. The Greek people will defend it by all means. But participation in the euro involves rules and obligations, which we must consistently meet. Greece belongs to Europe and Europe cannot be envisaged without Greece.

The glue that binds the EU together is not a shared identity but shared projects.

Two decisions have damaged the stability both of the euro and of Europe: the premature admission of Greece to the euro area and the breach and subsequent weakening of the stability and growth pact.

We have to accept the idea that Europe will be made on a two-speed basis, with a union based on solidarity and differentiation.

If the euro fails, Europe fails.

Observers and even some officials raise questions about the future of Greece as part of the Eurozone, while the Eurozone itself struggles to deal with fundamental flaws at the heart of its architecture.

I think it is incumbent on the rest of us - and I would suggest that includes other European leaders - to pause in what has become a very popular game of telling the Greeks how to run their lives.

For all its shortcomings, European co-operation and integration has created an understanding of shared destiny. We no longer point guns at each other; we fight it out at a conference table. And we will continue to do so when the U.K. is no longer a member state but, I hope, still a friend.

Greece has to stay in the euro.

Cooperation and solidarity are necessary requirements in order to bring about the solutions that will once again bring stability to the European integration and bring it back to the track of growth.

Peace and solidarity in Europe is not a law of nature. It requires caring, effort and perseverance

Europe was founded as a community bound together by solidarity.

I will continue to urge creditors to take the steps needed to put Greece on a path towards a durable economic recovery because it's in all of our interests that Greece succeeds.

We have no intention of leaving the euro. In no way will we experiment with the future of our country.

The stabilising power of economic union was one of the reasons the E.U. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

If we do not resolve the euro crisis, we will all pay the price. And if we do resolve it, we will all benefit, particularly German taxpayers and savers.

Germany is in favor of integration precisely because we don't want dominance.